Fundraising in 2023 was not easy, for founders or VCs. Sifted tracked just 39 new first-time funds that announced a first or second close in 2023 — compared to over 60 in 2022.
Will 2024 be rosier?
We’re not too sure.
Limited partnerships are still waiting for more established funds to return capital, the public listing market is still on ice and the mood music remains muted.
But those dogged VCs who do succeed in closing a fund in 2024 we’ll list right here.
All the new first-time VC funds raised in 2024
Kost Capital
HQ: Frederiksberg, Denmark
Fund size: Undisclosed amount closed in January, €25m target
Focus: Foodtech
Stage: Pre-seed and seed
Kost invests in the “inputs” — think ingredients and manufacturing solutions — that will power next gen food startups. It writes cheques of €750k-1m. The team includes general partner Bodil Sidén, who was previously a partner at Stockholm-based VC blq invest, founding partner Mark Emil Hermansen, cofounder of flavour and drinks startup Empirical and former concept manager at Noma, and founding partner Kasper Hulthin, cofounder of Peakon. The fund has grown out of a food development studio, which helps turn ideas from universities into commercially viable products.
Prequel Ventures
HQ: Berlin
Fund size: Just over 10% closed late 2023, target €10m
Focus: Supply chain tech across Europe
Stage: Pre-seed and seed
Born out of a research project to map supply chain tech startups in Europe, Prequel Ventures is a new (very specialised) early-stage fund announced in January 2024. It has two founding partners, writes cheques of €50-100k and has made three investments as of the start of 2024.
33N Ventures
HQ: Porto and Madrid
Fund size: Closed €50m, target €150m
Focus: Cybersecurity and infrastructure software startups
Stage: Series A and B
33N was set up by two investors with remarkably similar names — Carlos Alberto Silva and Carlos Moreira da Silva — in partnership with financial services firm Alantra. The fund plans to write cheques of around €10m into growth-stage cybersecurity startups. It's backed by Caixa Capital, the VC arm of the Portuguese Bank and Portuguese investment firm Golden Wealth Management.